The observatory was moved from Foggy Bottom to its present location the same year the house was completed and 12 observatory superintendents lived in what was then known as The Superintendent's House. The Naval Observatory is located 2.5 miles (4 km) from the White House and directly to its south is the British Embassy. Northview had been the property of widow Margaret Barber, who at the time of the abolition of slavery in the District in 1862 was one of its largest slaveholders. It was built on 13 acres (5.3 ha) of land which had originally been part of a 73-acre (30 ha) farm called Northview, which the Navy purchased in 1880. Dessez and built in 1893 for $20,000 (equivalent to $651,407 in 2022) for the use of the superintendent of the Naval Observatory who was the original resident. The house at One Observatory Circle was designed by architect Leon E. History Early history The Queen Anne style house in 1895 built of terracotta brick, it was unpainted until 1960 Similarly, Vice President Kamala Harris delayed moving in until April 2021 while renovations occurred. The vice-presidential mansion was refurbished by the United States Navy in early 2001, slightly delaying the move of Vice President Dick Cheney and his family. Every vice president since has lived there. Vice President Walter Mondale was the first vice president to move into the house. His vice president, Nelson Rockefeller, primarily used the home for entertainment as he already had a well-secured residence in Washington, D.C., though the Rockefellers donated millions of dollars' worth of furnishings to the house. Vice President Gerald Ford became president before he could use the house. The 1974 congressional authorization covered the cost of refurbishment and furnishing the house.Īlthough Number One Observatory Circle was made available to the vice president in 1974, more than two years passed before a vice president lived full-time in the house. It is still the 'official temporary residence of the vice president of the United States' by law. It remained the residence of the CNO until 1974, when Congress authorized its transformation to an official residence for the vice president, though a temporary one. The chief of naval operations (CNO) liked the house so much that in 1923 he took over the house for himself. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the house was built in 1893 for the observatory superintendent. Located on the northeast grounds of the U.S. Number One Observatory Circle, often referred to as the Naval Observatory, is the official residence of the vice president of the United States. Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States and the Second Family Official home of the vice president of the United States, photographed in 2001ġ Observatory Circle NW, U.S.

Residence vice president house inside